The Motives of Law and Grace
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
“Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm” (I Timothy 1:7).
Since “we are not under
law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15), what possible motive could someone
have to teach the law? Well, in Paul’s day, the men most likely to desire
to cling to the law were Jews (Acts 15:1). Speaking of them, Paul told
Titus:
“…there are many unruly and vain talkers…of the circumcision…who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake” (Titus 1:10,11).
The thing that these
circumcision Jews “ought not” to have been teaching was the law, which
they taught for the same reason men teach the law today—because there is money in it. Satan
always makes sure that undispensational truth is popular, and teaching
what is popular is always a lucrative endeavor!
For instance, in time
past, God’s message to Israel was that He was going to use Nebuchadnezzar
to conquer the nation to chasten her for her iniquities (Jer. 25:9). But
false prophets in Israel were assuring God’s people it would never
happen, that they would continue to enjoy peace (Jer. 23:17). Which of
those two messages do you think was more popular, and thus more lucrative?
Of course, when Israel was
obedient to God’s law, His message to them was a message of
peace, but when they rebelled against His law, that message became
one dispensation too
late. Well, today the law
is one dispensation too late, but it is as popular and as profitable as
undispensational teaching has always been. People are religious by nature,
and the law appeals to their religious “flesh” (Gal. 3:3). And that
which appeals to a man’s religious flesh is
always going to be as popular and as lucrative a business as that which
appeals to his carnal flesh (II Cor.
11:20).
When Paul added that those
teachers of the law understood “neither what they say, nor whereof they
affirm,” that was a polite way of saying they didn’t know what they
were talking about! All because they were one dispensation too late in
their teaching. What’s that say about all those “desiring to be
teachers of the law” in our own day?
Maybe you are thinking,
“If the goal of the law is to get us to love God and our neighbor (I Tim.
1:5), and we’re not under the law, does that mean God doesn’t want us
to love God and our neighbor?” Of course He does! But now such loving
charity is the goal of a new
commandment. You see, when Paul
said that “the end of the commandment is charity” (I Tim. 1:5), he
wasn’t just referring to the goal of the ten
commandments.
Remember, Paul opened this
epistle by insisting that he was an apostle “by the commandment of God” (I Tim. 1:1), and in the dispensation of grace, the
goal of that commandment is charity out of a pure heart. The
goal of Paul’s God-ordained apostleship is to get people saved and loving
God and their neighbor, just as it was under the law. The difference is, in
this dispensation, “the love of Christ constraineth us” to serve Him
(II Cor. 5:14), not the fear of what will happen to us if we disobey Him,
as was the case under the law. That’s the motivation of love, not law!
That’s the motivation of grace.
(A 10 Minute Video)
(A 10 Minute Video)
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